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Patricia Polacco is an American children's book author and illustrator. She has written and illustrated over 115 books for children, even though she did not write or illustrate her first book until the age of forty-one! As a child, Polacco struggled with dyslexia and was not able to read until she was almost fourteen years old, when a teacher recognized her disability and worked tirelessly to help her overcome it.

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I believe Patricia Polacco's works would be perfect to utilize in a 3rd grade classroom. Her books feature a wide array of diverse characters and teach many valuable lessons. I would present the books in the order shared on this Padlet, starting with "Thank You, Mr. Falker". I believe this book would be the best way to introduce the author to the students, as it is autobiographical and can teach the students about Polacco's early life. Afterwards, we could utilize her website, linked above, to learn more about her. The website includes contact information and you can even invite her to make an appearance at your school! If the Author Study gathers enough interest and I could convince other classrooms or schools to participate, it might be a fun idea to have the students write letters to the author and invite her to be a guest speaker.

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Patricia Polacco was born on July 11th, 1944 in Lansing, Michigan. Her mother's family were Jewish immigrants from Russia and The Ukraine. Her father's people were from The County of Limerick in Ireland. Both cultures valued and kept their history alive by storytelling.

Patricia is the mother of two grown children; Steven, a tenured professor at Dominican University in San Rafael, California. And a daughter, Traci who has made a career in the medical field and also lives in California. Patricia lives on her farm estate in Union City, Michigan.

Patricia has earned a Bachelors, Masters, and Ph.D. in Art and Art History. She has studied in the U.S., England, France, Russia and Australia. She is a guest lecturer in many universities and has been awarded numerous honorary degrees in Arts and Letters. She has a distinguished record as an international advocate for the rights of children. She has also established literary and art courses of study for young people both nationally and internationally. She has traveled extensively to Russia and has established an art camp in Losovough which thrives today. She has been honored by heads of state both at the Kremlin and the White House.

She is a member of the National First Amendment Rights Coalition and has fought tirelessly for this cause. She is also known as a champion of classroom teachers in our country, a cause sharpened by her association with Sandy Hook School in Newtown, Connecticut as a guest author and artist in residence. The tragic loss of both members of the faculty as well as children on December 14th, 2012 affected her life profoundly. The shock of this event caused her to collapse, be hospitalized and undergo open heart surgery to save her life. The grief of this set her on a path of establishing a series of lectures designed to raise the awareness of the plight of our classroom teachers as well as encouraging students to reach out to each other and include those who are perceived to be "different". She has also designed an anti bullying campaign that has earned her national recognition. Patricia conducts school visits all over the country. She is known as a natural storyteller and is highly praised for her work with people of all ages.

To date she has written and illustrated over 115 books for children,. She is also a playwright and is in the process of penning for adults. She is a much sought after lecturer and keynote speaker and is considered one of the most inspiring speakers of our time.

HONORS AND AWARDS

1988 Sydney Taylor Award, Association of Jewish Librarians KEEPING QUILT

1989 International Reading Association: Best Picture Book of the Year: RECHENKA'S EGGS

1990 Commonwealth Club of California Award- BABUSHKA'S DOLL

1990-1996 Author's Hall of Fame, California Council of Teachers BODY OF WORK.

1991 Parents Choice Honor SOME BIRTHDAY

1992 Golden Kite Award- Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Best Picture Book CHICKEN SUNDAY

1992 Commonwealth Club of California Award- CHICK SUNDAY

1992 Sacramento Capital Video Award- Best Video- KEEPING QUILT

1992 Educators for Social Responsibility in Children's Literature Responsible Author's Award- BODY OF WORK

1993 Jane Adams Honor Award- Women's International League for Peace and Freedom MRS. KATZ AND TUSH

1993 Parents Choice Audio Award MRS. KATZ AND TUSH

1994 President's Commendation Medal CHICKEN SUNDAY AND PINK AND SAY

1994 Parents Choice Award Best Book PINK AND SAY

1995 Bank Street College of Education, The Irma and James H. Black Book Award PINK AND SAY

1995 Jefferson Cup Award PINK AND SAY

1995 Best Book of the year New York State Association of Educators and Librarians PINK AND SAY

1995 American Book of the Year Award -American Booksellers PINK AND SAY

1995 BABRA Award 10 best books of the year PINK AND SAY

1995 New York Times Pick of the best of the year PINK AND SAY

1996 California Children's Book Award PINK ANT SAY

1996 David McCord Children's Literature Citation and Award, IRA -BODY OF WORK

1996 Picked as best children's book of the year in the following states: California ,Oregon, Washington, Texas, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota Wyoming, Wisconsin, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico

Arkansas, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Colorado, Alaska, Hawaii, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Florida, New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Minnesota, Montana, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Pennsylvania, North Caroline, South Carolina, Missouri, Arizona, Iowa, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia PINK AND SAY

1996 Colorado Association of Reading Award: PINK AND SAY

1996 North Dakota Library Association Award: MY ROTTON RED HEADED OLDER BROTHER

1996 Flicker Tale Children's Book Award: MY ROTTON RED HEADED OLDER BROTHER

1996 Jo Osbourne Award for humor in Children's Literature -BODY OF WORK

1996 - The Marquis Who's Who Publication Board Award -PINK AND SAY

1997 - West Virginia Children's Book Award - PINK AND SAY

1997 - Parents Choice , Video Award - THE DREAM KEEPER

1997 - Show Me Award- Missouri - MY ROTTEN RED HEADED OLDER BROTHER

1998 - Humpty Dumpty Award- Mid South Independent Booksellers for Children -BODY OF WORK

1998 - Story Book Award - THANK YOU MR. FALKER

1999 - Gold Award - THANK YOU MR. FALKER

1999- Association of Educators of Dyslexic and Learning Disabled Readers, Best Book - THANK YOU MR.. FALKER

1999 - Educators for Social Responsibility Award - THANK YOU MR. FALKER

2000 - Honor - Storytelling World Awards - Tellable Stories-ages 13-17; WELCOME COMFORT

2001 - Parents Choice award Luba and the Wren 2003 - Pennsylvania Young Readers Medal- best book - The Butterfly

2003 - Murphy School Award- best book- Mr. Lincoln's Way

2003 - Young Readers Award - Christmas Tapestry

2003 - Best of Year Award - top 10 list Detroit Free Press -Christmas Tapestry

2003 - Best Illustrated list- Detroit Free Press - G. is for Goat

2004- Author of the Year Award- Patricia Polacco-Michigan Reading Association

2005- California Young Readers Medal - Mr. Lincoln's Way

2005- Michigan Reading Association - Year's notable book list-An Orange for Frankie

2003- New York Times Best Seller- Parents Choice Award -Tho Gr Family

2005- RIF Selection - The Art of Reading - Citation award

2007- New York Times Best Seller- Ginger and Petunia

2007- Parents Choice Citation - American Cancer Society - The Lemonade Club

2008-New York Times - Readable books Citation -For the Love of Autumn

2009- Notable Books Award-National Coalition for the rights of Gays and Lesbians In Our Mother's House

2010-Notable Book Award-Michigan Reading Association - January's Sparrow

2011- Notable Books Award and Citation-Association of Librarians,Washington D.C. Just In Time , Abraham Lincoln

2012- Body of Work-The Lab School-Washington D.C.- awarded by the President of the United States.

2012- The Regina Medal - National Association of Catholic Librarians for Continued Contribution of Children's Literature

2013- The Library of Congress and the President of the US awarded PINK AND SAY one of the best books written for children in the past 100 years

2014- Sydney Taylor Award The Keeping Quilt (20th Anniversary Edition)

2015- Sydney Taylor Award-The Blessing Cup

2015- The Blessing Cup awarded Author's Medal by Midland Authors

2015- New York Times Best Seller List The Blessing Cup

2016- Tucky Jo and Little Heart was selected as the 2016 Comstock Read Aloud Honor Book

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Patricia Polacco was born on July 11th, 1944 in Lansing, Michigan. Her mother's family were Jewish immigrants from Russia and The Ukraine. Her father's people were from The County of Limerick in Ireland. Both cultures valued and kept their history alive by storytelling.

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Grade Level: Kindergarten through 3rd Grade

Genre: Non-fiction and Autobiography

Summary: This autobiographical book tells the story of a student named Trisha. Trisha cannot seem to learn how to read and is bullied because of it. That is, until Mr. Falker becomes Trisha's teacher. He recognizes that she has dyslexia, stands up for her against the bullies, and teaches her to overcome her reading disability. This book would be the first I read to my class that was written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco. I believe it would be a great introduction to the author and to learn about her early life and the challenges she overcame. This book is a great story that would prove to my students that, if a dyslexic girl did not learn to read until she was a teenager and then went on to become a very successful author, then they can also do anything they set their mind to!

Learning Activity: While this story already is effective in teaching an important message about diversity, acceptance, and overcoming challenges, I would also use it as a tool for my class to learn about and practice making inferences. Before reading the book aloud with the class, I would talk a little bit about what it means to make an inference. During reading, I would stop at certain places and ask the students to infer what characters are feeling, what characters meant by certain things they say, and what might happen next. I will go more into depth about this activity in the attached Lesson Plan for Thank You, Mr. Falker.

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Grade Level: Kindergarten through 3rd Grade

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Summary: After the death of Mrs. Katz's husband, her neighbor, a little boy named Larnel, gifts her a cat to keep her company. She agrees to take in the cat, as long as Larnel helps her to take care of it. While Larnel visits Mrs. Katz, she shares stories about her past with the boy. The two neighbors grow closer throughout the story and become like family. While this book has the theme of unlikely friendships, it also teaches quite a bit about Jewish culture.

Learning Activity: After our Read Aloud of this book, I would work together with the class to create a Venn Diagram related to the book. On one side of the diagram, we would list the unique qualities of Mrs. Katz, and write the unique qualities of Larnel on the other side. We would then construct a list of what the two seemingly different characters have in common that helps them to create a strong bond. This activity would help the students to see that people can have more in common than they realize and also to see how the Black and Jewish cultures have both suffered many tragedies and triumphs.

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Grade Level: Kindergarten through 3rd Grade

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Summary: This book tells the story of a happy family in a house full of love. Every member of the family is very different from each other, but they value and celebrate those differences. However, there are other people in their community who are not so accepting of their unconventional family. This book does a wonderful job with representing many diverse characters who are able to find happiness with each other, against all odds.

Learning Activity: After the class participates in the Read Aloud for this book, I would give them a writing prompt for the students to write a short response to. The prompt would be, "In this book, there are people who try to make the family feel like being different is bad or wrong. They do not let this get them down because they have the love and support from their other family members to help them get through tough times. Write about a time when somebody made you feel bad about being different and what and/or who helped you get through that tough time." This activity could help the students make text-to-self connections and empathize with the family in the book.

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Grade Level: Kindergarten through 3rd Grade

Genre: Realistic Fiction and Semi-Autobiographical

Summary: A Russian-American girl becomes an honorary member of the family of her neighbors. She considers their grandmother to be her own. The children notice on their walk back home from church that their grandmother always stops and looks in the window to the hat shop and sighs. The children decided that they want to get her the hat she loves, as a gift. They end up selling Easter eggs in order to raise money for the hat.

Learning Activity: I would like to utilize this book as a jumping off point for introducing the students to literature circles. I would divide the students up into smaller groups and have them read the book together. Since this would be their first time in a literature circle, I might give them a sheet with some discussion questions about the book for the students to talk about. I might also include some reading comprehension questions that they can research together to find the answers to. They can work together to choose how to respond to the questions on the paper, based on their discussions. The paper would be used as a reference for me to assess their understanding. With a gradual release of responsibility, the students could begin to choose their own books for literature circles and begin to guide their discussions on their own. This technique is a great way to facilitate the students to develop self-efficacy, teamwork skills, agency, and to hear a variety of different perspectives from their classmates.